Selectable video/audio coded data recovery from a record medium

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for playing back a plurality of digitally encoded audio messages along with associated video data. The audio messages are combined along with a plurality of corresponding audio message start address signals when recorded on a recording medium. The digitally encoded information can be recorded in the audio domain, i.e. as digitally audio recorded on an audio channel of the medium, or in the video domain, i.e. as digitized audio recorded on the video channel of the medium. In playback, the address and audio data signals are retrieved from the recording medium and stored. The address signals are utilized to access selectable messages for decoding and playback of the selected audio message.

This is a division, of application Ser. No. 342,292, filed Jan. 25,1982, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to audio frequency information encodingand decoding, and more particularly relates to audio message encodingand recording on a recording medium for later retrieval, decoding andplayback with related video information which is recorded with the audioinformation on the same recording medium.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

"Stop-motion" is a technique in the playback of recorded videoinformation whereby a single frame of recorded video signals is playedrepeatedly to provide a continuous video picture of the visualinformation contained in the single frame being played. Stop-motiontechniques are known and are in widespread use in TV broadcasting, themost well-known example being in the area of televised sportsbroadcasts. In such broadcasting applications, the recording mediumgenerally used to create the stop-motion effect is the video tape.

A development which has made the stop-motion capability attractive forapplications other than broadcasting is the optical disc. An opticaldisc is a flat disc approximately the size of an LP phonograph recordwhich is made of clear plastic and is capable of having informationrecorded on an imbedded surface in the interior of the disc in form ofspiralling or circular tracks of optically readable indicia. Opticaldiscs are read by imaging a beam of light to a tiny spot on a track,rotating the disc and thus causing the spot of light to scan linearlyalong the track, and detecting with a photodetector the amount of lightwhich emerges from the track in a selected direction. Information isstored in the disc in the pattern in which the indicia are provided onthe track. As the disc is scanned by the spot of light, the amount oflight which is detected varies in accordance with the alternate presenceand absence of the indicia, and the information is recovered bydetecting the electrical signal variations of the photodetector outputproduced by the particular pattern of indicia on the track.

The most widely-used format for the recording and playback of videoinformation on an optical disc involves frequency modulating a videocarrier and one or more audio subcarriers, combining thefrequency-modulated carrier and subcarriers, and then varying thespatial frequency and relative length of the indicia, as compared withthe areas between them, in accordance with the frequency-modulatedcarrier and subcarrier signals.

It is possible to record video information on an optical disc such thatareas of the track corresponding to vertical sync intervals are alignedradially on the disc. Such discs are called Constant Angular Velocity("CAV") discs because in the recording and playback of videoinformation, such discs are rotated at a constant angular velocity.

CAV discs provide several useful features which result from the factthat the vertical sync intervals in every track on the disc line up inthe same radial direction. This arrangement makes it possible whilereading the disc to jump from track to track with relative ease whilemaintaining the synchronization of the horizontal and vertical syncoscillator circuits of the television or monitor being driven by thedisc player output. This is made possible because, as the spot of lightarrives at a new track after being jumped from a previous track, thesynchronization of the video information recorded in that track isidentical to the synchronization of the video information in the trackfrom which the spot was just removed. Thus, after making such a jumpthere is no need to reestablish lost synchronization, and instead theplaying of the video information can proceed smoothly and withoutinterruption.

This capacity to jump smoothly among frames of video information hasmade the optical disc a highly suitable recording medium for videoinformation intended for play in the stop-motion mode. For example, anentire optical disc can be recorded exclusively with stop-motion videoinformation. In such a case each video frame recorded on the disccontains a different picture, and the disc can be read frame by frame,and thus picture by picture, as one would read a book, by playing eachframe in stop-motion mode and accesing individual frames as desired.Considering that over 50,000 frames of video can be stored on a singleside of a CAV disc, the utility of such a format is obviously very wide.For example, an entire department store catalog or an entire 100,000picture educational program can be placed on a single optical disc.

Stop-motion features of the optical disc become even more attractivewhen combined with the capability of audio playback during thestop-motion playing of the video information.

Techniques have been devised for the recording of audio information forplayback with a frame of stop-motion video. According to one technique,set forth in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 202,840, filedon Oct. 31, 1980, issued on July 31, 1984 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,389 inthe name of Scott M. Golden and commonly assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention, "stop-motion audio" to be played back with anaccompaying stop-motion frame of video is encoded in a digitized form,for example by adaptive delta modulation, and recorded on one of twoavailable audio channels on the disc. During playback, prior to theplayback of the associated stop-motion video frame, the digitallyencoded stop-motion audio information is read from the audio channel andstored in a storage device such as a RAM. When the stop-motion frame isplayed, the digitized audio information is read out of the storagedevice, decoded and played along the stop-motion video.

One of the limitations of this technique is that the bit rate of thedigitized audio data as it is read from the disc must be kept within thebandwidth limitations of the audio channel on which it is recorded. Atypical value which has been used with this technique is a read bit rateof twelve kilohertz. When employing adaptive delta modulation, samplingbit rates in the encoding process are typically sixteen kilohertz orgreater to provide desired intelligibility. Thus, according to thistechnique, the disc must be played in the normal mode of operation for aperiod of time just slightly longer than the duration of the stop-motionmessage in order to read the encoded stop-motion message in memory. Thetechnique is therefore not useful for recording programs having a largenumber of closely-spaced stop-motion frames. It does, however, provide arelatively low-cost way of recording and playing back stop-motion audioinformation where stop-motion frames are provided at more widely-spacedintervals throughout the program.

A second technique, described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 066,620, filed on Aug. 15, 1979, now abandoned in favor of Ser. No.782,164 filed Oct. 2, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,131, which is acontinuation of Ser. No. 161,231 filed June 18, 1980, in the name ofWayne R. Dakin, one of the inventors of the present invention andcommonly assigned to the assignee of the present invention, alsoinvolves the encoding of stop-motion audio information, for example byadaptive delta modulation. However, the digitally encoded stop-motionaudio information is recorded in the place of video information on oneor more successive frames. The stop-motion audio information message isencoded at a desired sampling rate, such as sixteen kilohertz and thentime compressed to a bit rate of 7.2 megahertz and encoded such that thebandwidth is within the capabilities of the video electronic circuitry.The encoded data is then provided in the place of the video informationin the horizontal lines of the video frames. The large time compressionof the digitized audio information permits the storage of stop-motionaudio messages of a duration of up to eleven seconds in the video dataportion of a single frame of video.

The electronic circuitry required to implement this second technique ismore costly than that associated with the first technique describedabove, but the later techniques permits considerably more stop-motionaudio message information to be stored on an optical disc. Thus, anoptical disc can be formatted in an alternating sequence of stop-motionvideo frames and stop-motion audio frames to provide each video framewith a stop-motion audio message of up to eleven seconds in duration.This "video encoding" technique, therefore, represents an enormousimprovement in the efficiency of storing digitally encoded stop-motionaudio messages on an optical disc.

The video encoding technique has certain limitations, however. Programdemands for stop-motion message duration vary considerably. Videoprogrammers frequently require only two or three seconds for aparticular stop-motion frame, but occasionally require a stop motionaudio message of up to twenty seconds or more. This presents problems inselecting a format for the stop-motion audio information. For reasons ofeconomy it is desirable to have a standard format for stop-motion audioinformation recording and playback so that video optical disc playershaving stop-motion capability do not have to be redesigned for every newprogram. A reasonable compromise standard format for stop-motion audioencoding is two successive frames of video field devoted to a singlestop-motion audio message sampled at a rate of sixteen kilohertz. Such aformat enables the storage and playback of stop-motion audio messages ofup to twenty-two seconds in duration at a reasonable level ofintelligibility. This permits the storage and playback of all but themost lengthy stop-motion audio messages in most program applications.However, most stop-motion audio messages are considerably less inlength, some lasting for only two or three seconds, as was mentionedpreviously. For such stop-motion messages an enormous amount of storagecapability is wasted. Even if only a single frame were to be devoted toa single stop-motion audio message, the eleven seconds afforded at asixteen kilohertz bit rate would still be excessive for many stop-motionaudio messages, and longer messages could not be recorded in such aformat.

In addition, while a sixteen kilohertz bit rate in connection withadaptive delta modulation is one which provides a reasonable compromisebetween intelligibility and data packing density requirements, audiomessage information played back at a sixteen kilohertz sampling ratedoes not provide full fidelity. Frequently it is desirable to providesuch increased intelligibility, but prior art techniques do not providethe flexibility to do so.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that there is a need for a videorecording and playback system having stop-motion audio recording andplayback capabilities which overcome the above-noted limitations. Inparticular, there is a need for such a system which provides moreflexibility in the provision of stop-motion audio messages on arecording medium while preserving standardization to permit theeconomical manufacture of the associated apparatus.

The present invention fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention resides in a method and apparatus for therecording and playback of audio messages along with selected video data.According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is providedfor recording a sequential series of digitally encoded audio datasignals onto a recording medium along with associated video data suchthat predetermined message portions of the audio data can be selectablyrecovered for separate decoding and playback with selectable portions ofthe video data. A plurality of address data signals are generatedrepresentative of a corresponding plurality of message start data in theaudio data series. The plurality of address data signals are combinedwith the audio data signals in a predetermined relative relationshiptherewith to form a block of composite data. The block of composite datais recorded along with the video data onto the recording medium suchthat the composite data is recoverable from the recording medium forstorage at predetermined addressable storage locations, whereby theaddresses of the predetermined storage locations are correlated with theaddress data signals.

The block of composite digital data signals is recovered from thestorage medium during playback and then stored at a plurality ofaddressable storage locations. A portion of the address datacorresponding to a selected one of the plurality of separate portions ofaudio data is accessed from a selected storage location. The selectedportion of audio data is then accessed from its storage location. Theselected portion of audio data is then decoded and played with aselected portion of video data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method isprovided for recording a sequentiial series of digital audio datasignals, encoded at a predetermined variable sampling rate onto arecording medium along with associated video data signals, such that theaudio data signals are recoverable for decoding at the predeterminedvariable sampling rate and for playback with the video data. Apredetermined digital signal representative of the predeterminedsampling rate is generated and combined with the audio data signals in apredetermined relative relationship therewith to form a composite groupof digital signals. The composite group of digital signals is recordedalong with the video data signals such that the predetermined digitalsignal is recoverable from the group of digital signals for setting thesampling rate for decoding the encoded audio to the predeterminedvariable sampling rate. The composite group of audio data signals isrecovered from the storage medium during playback and then stored in amemory. The predetermined digital signal is recovered and theinformation therein relating to the predetermined sampling rate is usedto set the bit rate of a decoder. The audio data signals are decoded atthe predetermined sampling rate and the recovered audio is played with apredetermined portion of the video data.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the present inventionrepresents a significant advance in the field of stop-motion audiorecording and playback systems, as well as in audio data storage systemsin general. In particular, the invention provides an effective techniquefor the storage of stop-motion audio messages for later playback withassociated stop-motion video data such that considerably expandedflexibility in quality and duration of such messages is provided ascompared with prior art techniques. Other aspects and advantages ofpresent invention will become apparent from the following more detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a stop-motion audio decoder constructedaccording to the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the format of a block of encoded audio data whichis used in connection with the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a diagram of the data structure of a RAM loadedwith data in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a schematic diagram of the control circuit shown inFIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a stop-motion audio data recovery anddemodulation apparatus constructed according to the principles of thepresent invention. A standard video disc player apparatus 10 reads anoptical disc (not shown) and provides as outputs a video signal line 12carrying recovered video information, and audio signal line 14 carryingrecovered audio information from Audio Channel 2, which is one of thetwo audio channels provided on the videodisc and a Command signal line16. The video signals on line 12 are applied to a video data recoverycircuit 20.

The video data recovery circuit 20 processes the video signal input online 12 and provides as outputs four parallel lines 22 of digitallyencoded audio data at logic level, recovered from two successive framesof video. The recovery circuit 20 also provides a clock signal as anoutput on line 24, which is the clock rate of the encoded data output onlines 22. The clock pluses on line 24 are applied to a conventionalfour-bit parallel to eight-bit parallel converter 26, which converts thefour-bit parallel data input on lines 22 into eight-bit parallel data("Video Coded Data"), which is applied to a control circuit 28 on lines30. The clock pulses on line 24 are also applied to a conventionaldivided-by-two circuit 32, the output of which ("Video Data Clodk") isapplied to the control circuit 28 on line 34. The details of thecircuitry in the video data recovery circuit 20 are set forth incopending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 218,584, filed on Dec. 19,1980 in the names of Jordan Isailovic and Wayne Ray Dakin and commonlyassigned to the assignee of the present invention.

The audio signal on line 14 is applied to an audio data recovery circuit36, which recovers digitally encoded audio data as a serial bit streamat logic level from the audio signal on line 14. The encoded audio datais applied as an output on line 38 to a conventional serial to eight-bitparallel converter 40, which converts the serial stream of encoded audiodata on line 38 into eight-bit parallel data ("Audio Coded Data"), whichis applied to the control circuit 28 on line 42. The audio data recoverycircuit 36 also provides as an output on line 44 a clock signal at therate of recovered Audio Coded Data, which is applied to theserial-to-parallel converter 40. The clock signal on line 44 is appliedto a conventional divide-by-eight circuit 46 which divides the clockpulse stream by eight and applies the resultant output ("Audio DataClock") to the control circuit 28 on line 48. The details of theprinciples of construction and operation of the audio data recoverycircuit 36 are provided in the aforementioned copending U.S. Pat. Ser.No. 4,463,389.

The control circuit 28 communicates in conventional manner with a 48KRAM 50 by way of a WRITE CLOCK line 52, WRITE DATA line 54, RAM ADDRESSline 56, READ CLOCK line 58 and READ DATA line 60. The control circuit28 applies data retrieved from the RAM 50 on a line 62 to an adaptivedelta demodulator 64. Clock pulses are also applied on line 66 to theadaptive delta demodulator for decoding the retrieved data on line 62 atthe appropriate rate. The recovered adaptive delta demodulated audio isapplied on an output line 68 for subsequent filtering and amplificationfor playing with associated video.

The Video Coded Data on lines 30 and the Audio Coded Data on line 42 areclocked at different rates. The Video Coded Data on lines 30 is clockedat a rate of approximately 900 kHz, while the Audio Coded Data on line42 is clocked at a rate of approximately 1,500 Hz. Both the Video CodedData and Audio Coded Data, however, have the same format.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram which shows the format of the Audio Coded Dataand Video Coded Data. At the beginning of a block of either Video CodedData or Audio Coded Data, a series of sixteen-bit message unit pointers70-84 are provided, which together comprise a "Header" 88 of data.Following the Header 88, a continuous stream of digitized Audio MessageData 86 is provided. The Audio Message Date 86 is comprised of up toeight separate audio message units appearing serially to make up theentire segment of Audio Data 86. The message unit pointers 70-84 eachcomprise a sixteen-bit byte, which is a digital number corresponding tothe position of the first byte of data in an associated audio messageunit in the segment of Audio Data 86, and to the sampling rate of thedata in the unit. Because the block of Audio Coded Data or Video CodedData is loaded serially into the 8-bit storage locations in the RAM 50,starting with address 0000, the message pointers are selected to includethe RAM address of the first 8 bits of data in the associated messageunit when the data is loaded in the RAM 50 in this way.

In operation, a block of Video Coded Data or of Audio Coded Data is readinto the RAM 50 by the control circuit 28 in response to a commandsignal on Command line 16. Subsequently, in response to a furthercommand signal on line 16, a selected message pointer is retrieved andprocessed to obtain the address of the first 8 bits of the associatedmessage unit and the sampling rate of that unit of data. Subsequently,the portion of the Audio Data 86 corresponding to the entire audiomessage unit selected is retrieved from the RAM 50 and clocked out at anappropriate rate to the adaptive delta demodulator 64 where the audiomessage unit data is demodulated and output on line 68 for furtherprocessing.

FIG. 3A depicts the structure of data stored in the RAM 50 memory afterit is loaded with a block of either Audio Coded Data or Video CodedData. In the diagram, the RAM 50 storage location designated "0000" isat the leftmost portion of the diagram, and storage locations havingsequentially increasing addresses proceed from the left to the right.All addresses are expressed in Hex notation. Thus, the addresses of theavailable storage in the 48K RAM 50 proceed from 0000 to BFFF.

The data is stored in the RAM 50, as depicted in FIG. 3A, such that theHeader 88 occupies a portion of RAM 50 memory having address 0000 to000F. A portion of audio data corresponding to a first message unit"Message Unit 1", occupies an area of storage from address 0010 through1F3F. Message Unit 2 occupies storage locations having addresses 1F40through 2AEF, and so on. In all, five mesage units, MU1-MU5, are loadedin RAM 50.

FIG. 3B is an expanded diagram of the portion of RAM 50 memorycontaining the Header 88 previously discussed. The data 88 occupies 16eight-bit portions of memory having associated addresses 90, indicatedbelow each vertical column representing each eight-bit storage locationof RAM 50 memory. Data is arranged in the figure in each memory locationsuch that the least significant bit appears at the top of the column,and the most significant bit appears at the bottom.

As was mentioned previously in connection with FIG. 2, each message unitpointer 70-84 comprises a sixteen-bit byte. Thus, each message unitpointer occupies 2 eight-bit storage locations in the RAM 50. Message 1pointer occupies memory at addresses 0000 and 0001, Message 2 pointer 72occupies storage locations having addresses 0002 and 0003, and so on.RAM 50 memory having address 000A through 000F are not needed in thisexample to store further message pointers and are consequently loadedwith zeros.

It will be noted that the Hex notation addresses of the first eight bitsof data for each of the five message units 1-5 are, from FIG. 3A, 0010,1F40, 2AF0, 32D0, and 6590, respectively. However, the message unitpointers 1-5 stored in the Header 88 portion of the RAM 50 are, fromFIG. 3B, 0018, 1F45, 2AF0, 32DB and 659F, respectively. Thus, it will beappreciated that while the three most significant Hex digits of themessage unit pointers correspond to the three most significant Hexdigits of message unit addresses, the least significant digit may notcorrespond. In fact, all of the least significant digits of the messageunit addresses are 0, and the least significant digit of the messageunit pointer is used to designate the sampling rate for the Audio Datain the message unit of the associated pointer. The sampling rate code isdescribed in detail below.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a circuit diagram of the control circuit 28 ofFIG. 1. The Video Clock line 34 is connected to the Low input of a firstmultiplexer 92, and the Audio Clock line 48 is connected t the Highinput of multiplexer 92. The Select input of multiplexer 92 is connectedto the output of a comparator 94. The output of multiplexer 92 isconnected to one input of an AND gate 98, the output of which isconnected to line 52. The eight-bit command line 16 is connected to afirst input of comparator 94 as well as to first inputs of furthercomparators 100 and 102 and to the Select inputs of a second multiplexer104 and a third multiplexer 106. A switch 108 set to the Hex notationnumber 56 ("Hex 56") is connected to the second input of comparator 100.A switch 110 set to Hex 41 is connected to the second input ofcomparator 94, and a switch 112 set to Hex 3 is connected to the secondinput of comparator 102. The output of comparator 100 is connected to afirst input of an OR gate 114, the output of which is connected to thesecond input of AND gate 98 and to the control input of a tri-statebuffer 116. The output of comparator 94 is connected to the Select inputof the multiplexer 92, as was mentioned previously, and also to thesecond input of OR gate 114 as well as to the Select input of a secondmultiplexer 118.

Th Video Coded Data line 30 is connected to the Low input of multiplexer118, while the Audio Coded Data line 42 is connected to the High inputof multiplexer 118. The output of multiplexer 118 is connected to theinput of the tri-state buffer 116. The output of the tri-state buffer116 is connected to line 54. The output of AND gate 98 is also connectedto the Clock input of a sixteen bit counter 120. The output of thecounter 120 is connected to the Low input of a fourth multiplexer 122,the output of which is connected to the Low input of a fifth multiplexer124. The output of multiplexer 124 is connected to line 56.

The output of comparator 102 is connected to the Load input of a furthersixteen bit counter 126, the rising edge input of a one shot 128 and tothe Select input of multiplexer 122. The output of counter 126 isconnected to the High input of multiplexer 122. The output ofmultiplexer 104 is connected to the input of counter 126, while theoutput of multiplexer 106 is connected to the input of a furthercomparator 130.

The output of comparator 130 is connected to the first input of an ORgate 131, the output of which is connected to the rising edge input of aone shot 132. The second input of OR gate 131 is connected to anexternal line 133. The Q output of one shot 132 comprises an initializepluse and is connected to the CLEAR input of comparator 130, to the SETinput of a first flip-flop 134, to the CLEAR input of counter 120, andto the RESET input of a second flip-flop 136. The output of one shot 132is also connected to the CLEAR Inputs of comparators 94, 100 and 102, aswell as to the CLEAR Input of a further sixteen-bit counter 138 and tothe RESET input of a third flip-flop 140.

The Q output of flip-flop 134 is connected to the HOLD Input of aVariable Rate Clock Generator 142. The output of the Clock Generator 142is connected to the input of a divide-by-eight device 144, to the CLOCKinput of a parallel-to-serial converter 146, and to a first input of afurther AND gate 148. The output of the divide-by-eight device 144 isconnected to the LOAD input of the parallel-to-serial converter 146, tothe SET input of the third flip-flop 140, to one input of a further ANDgate 150, and the CLOCK input of counter 138. The Q output of flip-flop140 is connected to the second input of AND gate 148, the output ofwhich is connected to line 66. The output of the parallel-to-serialconverter 146 is connected to line 62.

The output of counter 138 is connected to the second input of comparator130 and to the HIGH input of multiplexer 124. The output of multiplexer124 is connected to line 56.

The Q output of one shot 128 is connected to the LOAD input of aregister 152, to a first input of a further AND gate 154, and to therising edge input of a second one shot 156. The Q output of one shot 156is connected to the second input of AND gate 154, the output of which isconnected to the second input of AND gate 150. The output of AND gate150 is connected to line 58. The Q output of one shot 156 is alsoconnected to the input of a delay line 158, to the LOAD input of afurther register 160, and to the CLOCK input of counter 126.

The output of the delay device 158 is connected to the SET input offlip-flop 136, to the LOAD input of counter 138, and to the RESET Inputof flip-flop 134. The Q output of the second flip-flop 136 is connectedto the SELECT input of multiplexer 124.

Line 60 is connected to the input of the parallel-to-serial converter146 and also to the inputs of registers 152 and 160. The eight-bitparallel line output of register 152 and the eight-bit parallel lineoutput of register 160 are combined to form a single sixteen-bitparallel line 161, the four least significant bits of which areconnected to the SELECT input of the clock generator 142 and the twelvemost significant bits of which are connected to the input of counter138.

Multiplexer 104 and multiplexer 106 are each 8:1 multiplexers whichselect among eight inputs according to a binary number present at theSELECT inputs thereof. The first input of multiplexer 104 is connectedto a switch 162 set to the RAM 50 address of the first eight bits of thefirst message unit pointer. The second input of multiplexer 104 isconnected to a switch 164 set to the RAM 50 address of the first eightbits of the secgnd message unit pointer, and so on, up to switch 166 setto the RAM 50 address for the first eight bits of the eighth messageunit pointer and connected to the eighth input of mulitplexer 104.

The first input of multiplexer 106 is connected to a switch 168 set tothe RAM 50 address of the first eight bits of the second message unitpointer. The second input of multiplexer 106 is connected to a switch170 set to the RAM 50 address for the first eight bits of the thirdmessage unit pointer 170, and so on, up to the seventh input of themultiplexer 106. The eighth input of the multiplexer 106 is connected toa switch 172 set to the RAM 50 address corresponding to the end of theRAM 50 storage area used to store the stop motion audio data.

Before proceeding with a description of the operation of the circuitshown in FIG. 4, the format of the sampling rate code mentionedpreviously should be understood. The following table, Table 1, setsforth the sampling rate code: t,0210

It will be recalled that Message Unit Pointers 1-5 comprise thefollowing Hex numbers: 0018, 1F45, 2AF0, 32DB, and 659F. The leastsignificant digit in each of the pointers comprises the sampling ratecode for the associated Message Unit. Thus, referring to Table 1, thesampling rate for the first Message Unit is 21 KHz, that for the secondMessage Unit, 18 KHz, that for Message Unit 3, 13 KHz, and so on.

The format of the command codes transmitted on command line 16 shouldalso be understood. The following table, Table 2, sets forth the commandcode: t,0220

A Get Video Coded Data command signal (Hex 56) activates the controlcircuit 28 to receive Video Coded Data and read it into the RAM 50. AGet Audio Coded Data command signal (Hex 41) activates the controlcircuit 28 to receive Audio Coded Data and read it into the RAM 50. ThePlay Message 1-8 command signals (Hex 31-38) activate the circuit toretrieve Message Units 1-8, respectively, from the RAM and clock themout at the appropriate rate to the adaptive delta demodulator.

The circuit shown in FIG. 4 operates in the following manner.

Initially, on power up of the system a logic level "1" pulse isgenerated in a conventional manner and applied to line 133. This clearsthe comparators in the circuit and sets the circuit to a readyconditions to receive a block of data.

If a block of Video Coded Data is to be received from the player 10(FIG. 1) a Get Video Coded Data command code which, from table 2 is theHex number 56, is applied to the 8 bit command data line 16. The GetVideo Coded Data code is generated just prior to the reading of theblock of Video Coded Data from the disc. Since it will always be knownwhere on a given disc a block of encoded Video Coded Data is recorded,it is a simple matter to control the timing of the appearance of thecommand signal on line 16. For example, if a block of Video Coded Datais recorded in the video portion of the 10,000th and 10,001st frames,the conventional circuitry within the video disc player 10 may beutilized to generate a signal at the start of the 10,000th frame whichcan be used to apply the code 56 to the command line 16 at the beginingof the two frames. The matter of controlling the sequencing and timingof the command signal is a matter well within the scope of one skilledin the art.

When the Hex number 56 appears on line 16 comparator 100 detectsequivalence between the first and second input and consequently producesan output which is applied to one input of OR gate 114. The OR gate 114produces an output which is applied to one input of AND gate 98 and alsoto the control input of a tristate buffer 116. Comparator 94 produces nooutput at this time and therefore the select input of multiplexer 92will be "low". When video clock data is then applied on line 34 to themultiplexer 92 the multiplexer 92 will select the video clock pulses andpass them through to the output of the multiplexer 92. These pulses areapplied to the second input of AND gate 98 and, because the first inputof the AND gate 98 is held high, the pulses are passed through andappear on line 52. Line 52 is connected to the read data clock input ofRAM 50 (FIG. 1).

Because comparator 94 has a low output at this time multiplexer 118selects the video input line 30 and passes it through to the tristate116 which, due to high state of the output OR gate 114, passes the videodata through to line 54. Line 54 is in turn connected to the WRITE datainput of RAM 50 (FIG. 1).

The output of AND gate 98 is also applied to the clock input of 16 bitcounter 120. Having been cleared initially by the Initialize pulse online 18, the counter 120 begins counting from 0 and applies the countoutput to the Low input of multiplexer 122.

The net result of the previously described sequence is that the videodata appearing on line 30 is clocked into the RAM at the clock ratedetermined by the video clock pulses on line 52 at a sequential seriesof address locations starting with 0000 which appear on line 56.

The receipt and storage of a block of Audio Coded Data is performed insubstantially the same manner by the control circuit 28 as thatdescribed for the receipt and storage of a block of Video Coded Data.However, in the case of the processing of Audio Coded Data, the outputof comparator 94 is "high" and therefore the Select inputs ofmultiplexer 92 and multiplexer 118 are "high". Thus, the Audio Clock online 48 and the Audio Coded Data on line 42 are passed through to lines52 and 54, respectively. Addresses are generated and applied on line 56in the same way.

A message unit is retrieved and read out in the following manner. Assumethat it is desired to play message unit 2 with a selected frame of videoin the stop motion mode. Using known techniques the player apparatus iscaused to play the selected video frame in the stop motion mode.Simultaneously, Hex 32, corresponding to the Play Message Unit Twocommand signal, is generated and applied to the command line 16. Thethree least significant bits of the command are applied to the SELECTinputs of both multiplexer 104 and multiplexer 106. The three leastsignificant bits of Hex 32 comprise the digital number "2" which, whenapplied to the SELECT input of multiplexer 104, selects the second inputconnected to switch 164. Switch 164, it will be recalled, is set to theaddress in RAM 50 of the second message unit pointer. This is applied tothe output of multiplexer 104 which is connected to the input of counter126.

Simultaneously, the four most significant bits of Hex 32 are applied tothe first input of comparator 102. Comparator 102 senses coincidencebetween that input and the output of switch 112 which, it will berecalled, is set to the number 3. Coincidence causes the output ofcomparator 102 to go "high". This high signal is applied to the LOADinput of counter 126 which, in response loads the second message unitpointer value at the output of multiplexer 104 into the counter.

The high output of comparator 102 is also applied to the SELECT input ofmultiplexer 122 which, in response, selects the HIGH input connected tothe output of counter 126. Thus, counter 126 which is at this time setto the digital value corresponding to the second message unit pointeraddress in RAM 50 is applied through multiplexer 122 and multiplexer 124to line 56.

As the output of comparator 102 goes from a low value to a high value,one shot 128 is triggered. It will be noted that the Q outputs of oneshot 128 and one shot 156 are connected to the input of AND gate 154.Consequently, the normal state for the output of AND gate 154 is "high".When one shot 128 is triggered, it applies the negative going pulse toone input of AND gate 154, causing a negative going pulse to appear onthe output of AND gate 154. Because the output of divide-by-eight 144 isnormally "high", the negative going pulse appearing on the output andgate 154 is transmitted through AND gate 150 and appears on line 58. Theappearance on line 56 of the address of the second message unit pointerand the concurrent appearance of the negative going pulse on line 58cause the RAM 50 to provide on line 60 the contents of the RAM storagearea having the address of the first half of the second message unitpointer. The negative going pulse at the Q output of one shot 128 isalso applied to the LOAD input of register 152 which causes the eightbits retrived from the RAM 50 on line 60 to be stored in register 152.When the negative going pulse at the Q output of one shot 128 ends, ittriggers the rising edge input of one shot 156. This causes a negativegoing pulse having a duration of 500 nanoseconds to appear at the Qoutput of 156. This negative going pulse is applied to one input of ANDgate 154 which causes a negative going pulse to appear at the output ofAND gate 154 and, in turn, at the output of AND gate 150.Simultaneously, the negative going pulse at the Q output of one shot 156is applied to the CLOCK input of counter 126 which, in response,increments by one. This has the effect of increasing by one the pointernumber appearing on the address line 56. Consequently, the second eightbits 45 of the second message unit pointer is retrieved from the RAM 50and applied to the line 60. Finally, the negative going pulse output atthe Q output of one shot 156 is applied to LOAD input of register 160causing the second eight bits of the second message unit pointer to beloaded in register 160.

The net result of the sequence just described is that the entire secondmessage unit pointer is loaded in combination in register 152 and 160.The output of comparator 102 is low at this time and thereforemultiplexer 122 selects the LOW input and passes the count output ofcounter 120 through to the LOW input of multiplexer 124. Becauseflip-flop 136 is initially reset by the application of the Initializepluse from one shot 132 the SELECT input of multiplexer 124 is low and,consequently, the multiplexer 122 output is passed through to line 56.Line 56, it will be recalled, is connected to the RAM ADDRESS input ofRAM 50.

The twelve most significant bits of the second message unit startaddresses appearing at the output of registers 152 and 160 are appliedto the input of sixteen-bit counter 138. The 4 least significant bits ofthe output of registers 152 and 160 is applied to the SELECT input ofVariable Rate Clock Generator 142.

The counter 138 is thus prepared to be loaded with the start address,corresponding to the first 8-bits of the second message unit data. Thisaddress value is loaded into the counter 138 and applied to the RAM 50in the following manner. The negative going pluse at the Q output of oneshot 156 is applied to a one microsecond delay circuit 158 which delaysthe negative going pulse by one microsecond and then applies it to theSET input of flip-flop 136 and to the LOAD input of counter 138. Thus,in response to the negative going pulse at the Q output of one shot 156,counter 138 is loaded with the second message unit start address andthis address is applied to the HIGH input of multiplexer 124.Simultaneously, flip-flop 136 is set and its Q output is applied theSELECT input of multiplexer 124 causing it to select the HIGH input towhich the output of counter 138 is connected. This causes the startaddress to be applied to line 56.

The delayed output of delay 158 is also applied to the RESET input offlip-flop 134 causing the Q output of flip-flop 134 to go low, releasingthe Variable Rate Clock Generator 142. The four least significant bitsof the second message unit start address, which comprise the sample ratecode number, are present at this time at the SELECT input of the ClockGenerator 142 which, when released from hold, produces as an output aclock at the rate selected in accordance with the code at the input ofthe generator 142.

The clock from Clock Generator 142 is applied to the input of thedivided-by-eight device 144. Following eight counts of this clock anoutput appears at the output of divide-by-eight 144 which is applied toone input of AND gate 150. This causes a negative going pulse to appearon line 58 which causes the data at the start address storage locationin RAM 50 to appear at line 60.

This data on line 60 is applied to the input of parallel-to-serialconverter 146 and loaded immediately because of the presence of theoutput of divide-by-eight 144 at the LOAD input of 146. The loaded datais immediately clocked out serially in response to the clock pulsesappearing at the CLOCK input of the converter 146 from the output ofClock Generator 142. The serially clocked out data is applied to line62.

After four CLOCK pulses from Clock generator 142, the output ofdivide-by-eight 144 goes low. This causes the output of AND gate 150 togo low, thereby instructing the RAM 50 to read the data at the addresswhich is present on line 56. The data which is thus read is supplied online 60 and is thereby applied to the input of the parallel-to-serialconverter 146. During this time period, the clock output from ClockGenerator 142 is applied to one input of AND gate 148. However, theother input of AND gate 148 is held low by the Q output of flip-flop140, and consequently, the clock from Clock Generator 142 is inhibitedfrom appearing on line 66. The first 4 pulses from Clock Generator 142are also applied to the clock input of parallel-to-serial converter 146,and thus random data is clocked out on 1ine 62. This output is notprocessed by the demodulator 64, however, since no clock pulses appearat this time on line 66.

After four more clock pulses from clock Generator 142, the output ofdivide-by-eight 144 goes high. This triggers the CLOCK input of counter138, triggers the Load input of the parallel-to-serial converter 146,and triggers the input of one shot 174. One shot 174 is set to producean output pulse having a duration of 100 nanoseconds. Thus, as theoutput of divide-by-eight 144 goes high, the counter 138 is incrementedby one thereby causing the address appearing on line 56 to beincremented by one, data is loaded into the parallel-to-serial converter146, and one shot 74 is triggered thereby producing a negative-goingpulse which activates the set input of flip-flop 140. The Q output offlip-flop 140 thus goes high, enabling a string of clock pulses from theclock generator 142 to appear on line 64. Consequently, data isimmediately clocked out of the parallel-to-serial converter onto line62, and simultaneously clock pulses are provided on line 64.

Following four more clock pulses from Clock Generator 142, the output ofdivide-by-eight 144 again goes low. This causes another negative-goingpulse to appear on line 58 which causes the RAM 50 to access data fromthe storage location having the address location appearing on line 56which, it will be appreciated, is next storage location in the sequenceof the second message unit. After four more pulses at the output ofClock Generator 142, all of the data previously loaded in theparallel-to-serial converter 146 is completely clocked out onto line 52.Coincident with the output of divide-by-eight 144 going high, theparallel-to-serial converter 146 is loaded with the next eight bits ofdata which are present on line 60, counter 138 is incremented by one,and one shot 174 is triggered. Thus, the next eight bits of data areimmediately clocked out onto line 62 with no interuption from theclocking of the first eight bits of data. Flip-flop 140 already havingbeen set by the first positive-going edge appearing at the output ofdivide-by-eight 144, the Q output of flip-flop 140 remains high and thestream of clock pulses continues to appear on line 66 withoutinteruption.

The output of counter 138, in addition to being applied throughmultiplexer 124 to line 56 to provide the address information for theRAM 50, is also applied to one input of comparator 130. The other inputof comparator 130 is connected to the output of multiplexer 106.Multiplexer 106, it will be recalled, has at its output the thirdmessage unit pointer set in switch 170. Counter 138 continues toincrement with every cycle of the output divide-by-eight 144 therebyclocking, storage location by storage location, the entire contents ofthat portion of RAM 50 memory containing the data associated with themessage unit being accessed, in this example being the second messageunit.

When the output of counter 138 equals the subsequent message unitpointer, in this example message unit number 3, comparator 130 detectscoincidence and produces an output. This output is applied to the inputof one shot 132 which produces a one microsecond negative-going outputpulse on the Q output thereof. This negative going output pulse isappied to the SET input of flip-flop 134 which causes the Q output offlip-flop 134 to go high. This causes the HOLD input of Variable RateClock Generator 142 to go high which inhibits Clock Generator 142.Simultaneously, the negative-going output pulse from one shot 132 isapplied to the Initialize line, thereby clearing and resetting thevarious devices responsive to the Initialize pulse, returning thecircuit to its initial state awaiting a further command.

Thus, it has been shown that units of encoded audio data comprisingmessage units capable of being decoded at an associated particular clockrate for separate playback with selected video frames played in the stopmotion mode can, according the principles of the present invention, begrouped together along with specially encoded message unit pointers toform a block of encoded audio message data which may be recorded on arecording medium, such as a video disc, on either a portion of the discreserved for video information or on a portion of the disc reserved foraudio frequency information. This block of data can be recovered fromthe disc, stored in a storage device such as a RAM and selectivelyaccessed from the storage device and processed for controllable separateplayback of each message unit with a selected frame of video played inthe stop motion mode. In fact, the present invention provides sufficientflexibility over the control of the access and processing of the messageunits that the separate message units may be played back not only when asingle selected frame of video is played in a stop motion mode, but inaddition during any desired mode of video disc playback, for example,slow motion playback or skip frame playback.

It should be noted that while the control circuit 28 described aboveprovides an effective means for coordinating the storage and selectiveaccessing of data according to the principles of the present invention,it may be more cost effective to implement the logic contained incontrol circuit 28 in the program of a microprocessor, and have themicroprocessor exercise the function of the control circuit. Such animplementation is, in fact, considered preferred. The details of theprocedure for programming a microprocessor in this manner are notincluded herein, since such procedures are well known in the art and thederivation of an effective program for this function for a particularmicroprocessor is considered routine once the principles divulged hereinare known.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the present inventionrepresents a significant advance in the field of extraordinary modeaudio recording and playback, especially as applied to the field of stopmotion audio information recording and in playback. In particular, theinvention provides an effective technique for providing expandedflexibility in the efficient storage of encoded audio data in the formof separate audio data message units, and in the controllable selectionof the sampling rates of the data. It will also be appreciated thatalthough specific embodiments of invention have been described in detailfor purposes of illustration, modification may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the inventionis not to be limited, except as by the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. Apparatus for recovering an audio message from a selectedone of a plurality of blocks of composite digital audio data recorded ona record medium as at least one video encoded digital audio data blockand at least one audio encoded digital audio data block, each said datablock comprising a series of digitally encoded audio message units, eachsaid audio message unit comprising a message portion, said apparatuscomprising:player means for recovering said blocks of composite digitaldata from said record medium, and including means capable of outputtingrecovered video encoded digital audio data blocks, means capable ofoutputting recovered audio encoded digital audio data blocks, and meansfor outputting command data; selector means coupled to said player meansand receiving any recovered video encoded data blocks and any recoveredaudio encoded data blocks of composite digital audio data, and includingdata select means responsive to said command data for selecting andoutputting one of said recovered video and audio encoded data blocks ofcomposite digital audio data; addressable data storage means; writemeans for receiving said selected block of composite digital audio datafrom said data select means, and for writing said selected block ofcomposite digital audio data into predetermined data storage locationsin said addressable storage means; and data readout means responsive tosaid command data for reading out of said addressable storage means themessage portion of a selected audio message unit.
 2. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said video encoded digital audio data blockis recorded on said disc in two consecutive video frames.
 3. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said audio encoded digitalaudio data block on said disc is in the form of digitized informationaccording to an adaptive delta modulation process.
 4. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said data select means includes:a videoencoded digital audio data recovery device capable of receiving anddecoding said video encoded data blocks to produce corresponding digitalaudio data; an audio encoded digital audio data recovery device capableof receiving and decoding said audio encoded data blocks to producecorresponding digital audio data; means for developing a video dataclock from the recovered and decoded video encoded digital audio datafrom said video encoded digital audio data recovery device; and meansfor developing an audio data clock from the recovered and decoded audioencoded digital audio data from said audio encoded digital audio datarecovery device; and means for applying one of said video data clock andaudio data clock to said addressable storage means for effectingsynchronous operation of said addressable storage means, write means,and select switch means.
 5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, whereinsaid select switch means includes:means for decoding said command datato produce a clock select signal; and multiplexer means for receivingsaid developed video data clock and said developed audio data clock andselecting between them dependent upon the status of said clock selectsignal.
 6. Apparatus for recovering a message portion of audio data froma block of composite digital audio data recorded on a record medium as asequential series of digitally encoded audio message units, each saidaudio message unit comprising an audio message portion, said compositedigital audio data being recorded on said record medium along withassociated video display information, said block of composite digitalaudio data being selectively recorded on said record medium as one of ablock of video encoded digital audio data and a block of audio encodeddigital audio data, said apparatus comprising:player means includingmeans recovering said block of composite digital audio data from saidrecord medium, means for outputting said recovered block of compositedigital audio data, and means for outputting a message select command;addressable storage means for storing recovered digital audio data atselectable storage address locations therein; select switch means,including a video encoded digital audio data recovery device and anaudio encoded digital audio data recovery device, connected between saidplayer means and said write means for selecting one of said blocks ofvideo encoded data and audio encoded data for loading into saidaddressable storage means; write means, coupled between said playermeans and said addressable storage means, for loading said recoveredblock of composite digital audio data into said addressable stcragemeans at predetermined sequentially addressed storage locations; anddata readout means for reading out of said addressable storage means theaudio message portion of a selected audio message unit.
 7. A method forrecovering an audio message from a selected one of a plurality of blocksof composite digital audio data recorded on a record medium as at leastone video encoded digital audio data block and at least one audioencoded digital audio data block, each said data block comprising aseries of digitally encoded audio message units, each audio message unitcomprising a message portion, said method comprising the stepsof:recovering said blocks of composite digital audio data from saidrecord medium and selectively producing recovered video encoded digitalaudio data blocks, recovered audio encoded digital audio data blocks,and command data; selecting one of said recovered video and audioencoded data blocks of composite digital audio data responsive to saidcommand data; writing said selected block of composite digital audiodata into predetermined data storage locations in an addressable storagemeans; and reading out of the addressable storage means the messageportion of a selected audio message unit.
 8. A method for recovering amessage portion of audio data from a block of composite digital audiodata recorded on a record medium as a sequential series of digitallyencoded audio message units, each said audio message unit comprising anaudio message portion, said composite digital audio data being recordedon said record medium along with associated video display information,said block of composite digital audio data being selectively recorded onsaid record medium as one of a block of video encoded digital audio dataand a block of audio encoded digital audio data, said method comprisingthe steps of:recovering said block of composite digital audio data fromsaid record medium; identifying whether said recovered block ofcomposite digital audio data is video encoded digital audio data oraudio encoded digital audio data; selecting the one of said videoencoded digital audio data and audio encoded digital audio dataidentified in said identifying step; storing said selected recoveredblock of composite digital audio data into said addressable storagemeans at predetermined sequentially addressed storage locations; andreading out of said addressable storage means the message portion of aselected audio message unit.